Mount Pleasant, IA- The Southeast Conference (SEC) met up for one more regular season showdown before the conference tournament set to start next Tuesday, October 8th, and Burlington enters as the favorite, going a perfect 5-0 after a Keokuk sweep last night.
Here’s a dive into each of the three contests last night and the conference standings heading into the tournament.
Mt. Pleasant entered last night confident after defeating Fairfield twice this season, including in their last tournament in Ottumwa a week and a half ago. Add in a senior night celebration during homecoming week and all the momentum was on the Panthers side.
And that’s how the game started, Mt. Pleasant got out to an 8 to 5 lead in the first set as senior Zoey Atkinson tallied a kill, a block assist, and two aces in the opening frame. But what soon turned out to be the theme of the game, errors took over and Fairfield found a groove.
Elyse Setterstrom and the front row of the Trojans tied the game at 9 and never looked back, winning the first set 25-19. Fairfield head coach Vicki Rebling spoke on her team’s progress throughout the game.
“We started off a little slow, it seemed like we needed to get used to each other a little bit. Our feet weren’t moving all that well. So, more communication, we always talk about and practice our mouth moves our feet. So, the more we can talk about every ball, the more our feet start to react, and we get to the spots that we need to get to.”
Despite generating four aces in the first set, the Panthers struggled at the service line, committing too many errors after a side-out score. Alex Scott looked to change that, firing three aces in the second set.
However, Claire Thompson and Setterstrom combined for seven kills in the second frame and had the Trojans touting a 19 to 18 lead after trailing by as many as six, mid-way through the set.
That’s when Myah Starr generated a couple points with accurate shots, leading to the Trojan defense staring in disbelief. Moreover, a tense rally that saw both teams sprawling to save the ball, including a Fairfield pancake ended in a net violation and a Panther point.
Mt. Pleasant rode that wave of momentum and took the second set 25-20. Mt. Pleasant only held one other lead for the rest of the night. Fairfield jumped out to a 3 to 0 lead and led by as much as nine to win the third set 25-16.
That momentum carried into the fourth and final set of the night with Lilly Bergren collecting five of her nine kills in the set and joining up with Jaden Haynes at the net to total three of the squad’s eight blocks on the night.
Sonya Simon grabbed one of her three aces down the stretch, willing Mt. Pleasant back from a 22 to 14 deficit to make it 22 to 18; an aspect of the game head coach Logan Wall has been focused on all season,
“We’ve been doing some eye sequencing with our serve. So, trying to judge where the server is going to serve and make sure and communicate back in the back row. But I think I think Sonya really changed the momentum there in that last set. She got us back in the game.”
Fairfield would squash Mt. Pleasant’s momentum and win the final set 25-19 to take the match 3-1. Coach Rebling is hoping the win can provide her team the confidence needed to succeed at the conference tournament,
“I’m not gonna lie. They’ve had our number this year so far on. So, we’ve been, you know, talking a lot about that, preparing mentally, working on the little things and executing because, you know, it’s great to come into here tonight and get this win and go into the conference tournament knowing that we can beat them.”
Mt. Pleasant fell to 7-15 on the season, while Fairfield improved to 11-13.
Stat Leaders
Mt. Pleasant
Kills: Addison Clark 11, Myah Starr 6, Alex Scott 4
Assists: Abby Carthey 27
Aces: Scott 4, Sonya Simon 3, Zoey Atkinson 3
Fairfield
Kills: Elyse Setterstrom 12, Lilly Bergren 9, Claire Thompson 6
Assists: Faith Jones 31
Aces: Jones, Mallory Wigle, Bergren, and Olivia Hollander 2
Blocks: Jones 4, Jaden Haynes 3
In other SEC games, Washington handled Keokuk with ease last night, sweeping the Chiefs 25-16, 25-14, and 25-17. The Demons are now 11-10 and the Chiefs fell to 3-13.
Stat Leaders:
Washington
Kills: Leighton Messinger 14, Layla Green 12, Sarah Berdo 6
Assists: Carys Miller 34
Aces: Green and Colbie Greiner 2
Keokuk
Kills: Camryn Atterberg 6, Kendra Boatman 3
Assists: Boatman 9
Aces: Boatman and Kyndra Rylan 1
Lastly, Burlington kept their undefeated conference record intact with a 3-0 win over Fort Madison last night 25-13, 25-11, and 25-12. The Grayhounds are enjoying their first above 0.500 season since 2020 at 18-9, while Fort Madison moved to 5-16 for the season.
Upcoming Schedule
Keokuk will host the first round of the conference tournament on Tuesday, October 8th, starting at 8 pm.
District Standings
Burlington: 5-0 (18-9)
Washington: 4-1 (11-10)
Fairfield: 3-2 (11-13)
Mt. Pleasant: 1-4 (7-15)
Fort Madison: 1-4 (5-16)
Keokuk: 1-4 (3-13)
